CBS4’s Brian Maass is reporting[1] that “Denver Police Chief Robert White has recommended the firing of veteran police Sgt. Benita Packard over her handling of the Jan. 25 DUI stop of former State Legislator Laura Kay Bradford.”

If so – and if Safety Manager Alex Martinez concurs – you have to wonder whether such a firing would be sustained by the Civil Service Commission given recent hearing panel rulings.

In May, for example, a hearing panel blocked the firing of an officer who had driven 143 mph in a 55-mph zone, claiming the safety manager should have taken mitigating factors into account, such as personal stress.

In the current case, Packard ordered an officer who pulled over Bradford on suspicion of drunken driving to keep his mouth shut about the possible drinking as well as a loaded gun in the lawmaker’s car.

Packard apparently orchestrated a coverup, in other words, on behalf of a lawmaker who never even asked for such a favor.

A firing offense for a 30-year veteran? I’m not sure, but it’s clearly a serious matter. Aggravating the behavior is the fact that Packard failed to come forward and tell the truth even as Bradford was being denounced across Colorado by critics who assumed she’d invoked legislative immunity when cops stopped her – although she hadn’t.

Packard’s silence while Bradford twisted in the wind was nearly as bad as the coverup itself.